Modern Civilization and Colonialism Theme Analysis

In Hind Swaraj, Gandhi emphasizes that Indians will not become truly independent—or achieve Swaraj (home-rule)—by simply overthrowing the British. This is because he blames India’s misery on modern civilization, not colonialism. This distinction is essential for understanding Gandhi’s argument: the Western way of life is responsible for India’s oppression, not just the British government. Because Gandhi thinks that modern civilization’s focus on material goods is the root cause of Indians’ poverty and misery, he concludes that Indians must replace this modern way of life with one based on ancient Indian civilization’s traditions and values.

Gandhi argues that modern civilization and its technologies are evil because they lead people to prioritize material goals over spiritual ones. For Gandhi, a civilization is essentially a way of life, which is based on a society’s specific cultural values, social structures, and religious traditions. Gandhi argues that the best (or truest) way of life is the one that “points out to man the path of duty,” or teaches people to behave morally. Following this “path of duty” requires learning to control “our mind and our passions,” which Gandhi considers the source of true happiness. In other words, a good civilization makes people happy by teaching them morality and self-control. This allows them to fulfill all their needs, both material and spiritual.

In contrast to true civilization, Gandhi argues, modern Western civilization “make[s] bodily welfare the object of life.” In other words, it encourages people to prioritize wealth, power, and pleasure over their moral, social, and spiritual well-being. Gandhi notes that Europeans define success and progress as buying bigger houses, wearing finer clothing, and developing new technologies. He ironically suggests that, in the future, people will be able to meet all their needs simply by pressing a button—but he points out that this would not make these people’s lives good or meaningful. On the contrary: the richer people get, the more miserable, greedy, and evil they become, according to Gandhi. So focusing excessively on “bodily welfare” is actually likely to make people’s lives worse. Once people meet their basic bodily needs, having more stuff does not make them any happier. Instead, they need to focus on their spiritual development, which modern civilization totally ignores.

Gandhi blames this modern civilization for the degradation of India. In fact, he argues that the English invaded India precisely because of a barbaric thirst for wealth. For more than 300 years, the English stole Indians’ land and material resources, enslaved them in factories and mines, and turned them against one another. In the process, the English committed many of the worst crimes against humanity in recorded history. But the culprit isn’t just colonialism: it’s the modern way of life that led to colonialism. If Indians cast off colonialism but do not overcome modern civilization, they will end up worse than before.

To underline his point, Gandhi looks at three key examples: railways, Western-trained doctors and lawyers, and industrial machinery. While some Indians view these developments as a silver lining to English colonialism, Gandhi believes that they have actually worsened and impoverished India. For instance, he argues that the railways were built to expedite the theft of Indian resources. Similarly, while traditional Indian doctors and village lawyers prevent illnesses and legal disputes, Western-trained doctors and lawyers profit by prolonging them. These developments show that many Indians have accepted modern civilization, too, so need to reform themselves in order to live happy and ethical lives. In fact, Gandhi thinks Indians—not the English—are responsible for letting modern civilization take over India. From his perspective, this is because greedy Indians agreed to trade with and fight alongside the English and then gradually let themselves be modernized. If the English leave India, therefore, modern civilization won’t go away—so the struggle for Indian independence is really about replacing modern civilization with true civilization, not replacing the English government with an Indian one.

To build a free society based on true civilization, Gandhi thinks that Indians must turn to their traditional past. Gandhi justifiably thinks that Indians lived far better and happier lives in the distant past than they did under British colonialism. Although they didn’t have machines, money, or railroads, they lived in small, self-sufficient village communities. They had doctors and courts, but their doctors addressed the root causes of illness (“negligence” and “indulgence”), and their courts resolved conflicts rather than extending them. In other words, Indian civilization was superior because it met people’s material needs while also providing for their spiritual ones. That said, Gandhi emphasizes that ancient Indian civilization was not perfect—for instance, many Indians had some oppressive traditions like child marriage, ritualized prostitution, and animal sacrifice, which he thinks they should absolutely reject. At the same time, Indians can integrate certain Western practices into their civilization. For example, he thinks India should create a universal education system, implement public health policies, and guarantee human rights to all its citizens. This makes it all the more clear that the conflict between ancient and modern civilization is not just a conflict between Indian traditions and Western ones: rather, it is a conflict between a balanced way of life and an unbalanced one that puts wealth, power, and technology above community, morality, and human well-being.

Gandhi doesn’t want India to turn its back on England and try to return to the past: rather, he envisions the India of the future as a democratic federation of villages, which largely govern themselves in traditional ways, but also work together on a national scale, through shared democratic institutions. If India can transform itself in this way, Gandhi thinks the English can even stay in India and “become Indianised.” There’s no contradiction between rejecting English technology while embracing English people, or living traditional lifestyles under a national democratic government. Rather, Gandhi believes that India should revitalize its ancient civilization precisely by becoming a democratic nation.